Independence Day - a manifesto

Today, I'm launching our mini manifesto as an independent candidate who seeks a Better Britain in a Better Europe for a Better World. Whilst it is not comprehensive, it covers most of the issues that I would focus on, if elected as a challenger to the broken Westminster system and the two party coalition. It's a long read, so hold tight !! To download the pdf please go to Peter Cook Independent PPC : Gillingham and Rainham.

As an independent I differ from most of the main parties in many ways, for example :

Brexit - Start the journey to end Brexit NOW. Brexit's breaking Britain.

Climate - Accelerate progress towards Net Zero NOW and seize the opportunities provided by the Green Industrial Revolution.

Gaza - No parasan - ceasefire and a Good Friday Agreement styled dialogue NOW.

Plus many more local policies on NHS, Education, Transport, Housing, Immigration and so on. Here's 250 words to start with:

The Brexit experiment has failed.  Eight years of our children’s futures wasted at a cost of £billions or £1000’s from every person’s pocket, for absolutely nothing.  Brexit was simply David Cameron’s failed team building event, which will cost the earth to continue with.  The EU is not perfect, but we cannot reform it by building a wall around England.  I propose a three-pronged strategy to restore the great in Britain:

I am Peter Cook, an independent candidate standing for election here with a unique campaign involving a cat!  I am very serious about our campaign.  I invite you to you consider why I am the ideal person to represent you in Gillingham and Rainham.

Why vote for me?

I am uniquely qualified to offer you a better kind of local and national politics.  A self-employed business

owner of some 30 years standing, having worked worldwide with businesses and public services.  Born and bred in Medway with a deep understanding of the towns and the people, and having grown up in a council house, I have never moved away from my true beginnings but have succeeded through education, which

is key to our children’s futures.  I am just as comfortable working with those without hope and help, as with those who run the country and have the ability to give hope and help those who feel helpless. 

My work has brought me into contact with professors, rock stars, politicians and business leaders such as Sir Richard Branson, who gave me a prize for my work on leadership.  I will bring that understanding, skill and experience to my service for the people of Gillingham and Rainham.  I was a School Governor for Napier Community Primary School and have worked with a local NHS innovation board in Medway, to help improve healthcare delivery by making the most of technology.

I have no party machine to generate extensive policy documents.  Nonetheless, I have generated this guide to illustrate the kind of commitments that you can expect from me.  Crucially, I will work across party lines with all politicians to build a better Britain in a better Europe for a better World. See our policy top lines at the end of this document.

Cost of living, growth and Brexit

Brexit still means Brexit, and nothing else, after 8 years of BS and lies, which everyone is fed up with.  Boris Johnson’s fabled phrase “Let’s get Brexit done” has still not happened, yet he installed a hard Brexit government and cleared out the so-called Remoaners. He has had a fair crack of the whip and he failed.   Brexit did not magically vanish from our TV screens at the end of 2020.  The withdrawal agreement and trade negotiations have turned out to be for the birds.  Brexit is still the elephant (even big cat) in the room, and there’s no sign of that changing.  Brexit’s costing us £100 BILLION every year, money which could be better spent rebooting Britain, fixing our NHS, dealing with social care, education, homelessness, policing etc.

In any case, Brexit has not brought any benefits – nobody is able to articulate what problems Brexit has solved or the opportunities it brings.  This after 8 years tells you all you need to know about Brexit.  I have spent thousands of hours on the streets of Medway talking to people about Brexit.  It becomes apparent that people feel cheated by the big political parties and Farage.  The Brexit we have bears no resemblance to the one in the “brochure” in 2016.   In fact, the “high water mark” of Brexit was Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement.  Boris Johnson’s version of the “50 shades of Brexit” has turned out to be a severely watered-down Theresa May deal and positively dangerous for the breakup of our United Kingdom, putting the peace of the island of Ireland at risk.  Some consider Brexit to be like changing your phone contract without realising the complex web of commitments that we built up over 40 years with our European partners.  At this point in time, the Brexit we have offers Britain the worst of all worlds: 

• Splendid isolation, whilst having to be a rule taker from Europe and the USA.
• More immigration from trade deals where freedom of movement is one of the bargaining chips.
• Restricted freedom of movement for UK Citizens and our young people wishing to live, love and prosper in Europe.

And so on …

I therefore propose a simple reversal of Brexit by an act of Parliament  To address the need to improve our democracy, I propose a people’s assembly and ultimately a people’s vote, but not one on Brexit.  The vote would take all the issues that prompted Brexit such as the NHS, immigration, deprivation, the economy etc., and ask the people to put these in a meaningful priority order for future generations after a full consultation.  As such, this will constitute a major piece of informed democracy, rather than the faux democracy installed by David Cameron, as a desperate measure for Conservative party team building purposes.

I have set out my arguments about why Brexit is a mistake for our children in our books, 400 films, music and the website. They are full of street stories from cafes and pubs on the streets of Medway.

I recognise that “Brexit Apathy” is a thing, having listened for thousands of hours to people’s stories on both sides of our Brexit division.  However, you would not buy a house without a roof or floors just because the estate agent had “bored” you into accepting it?  Brexit is a much bigger decision than a house purchase.  Let’s build a better Britain in a better Europe for our children’s futures. There is a clear business case for this, with some instantaneous benefits in terms of reversing the rot from our losses of GDP, industries leaving basket case Britain, trade with Europe, freedom of movement, data security and so on.  A man in the Britannia pub recently told me that he welcomed the rise of the “national front” in France as “they would stop the immigrants coming to Britain”.  He was quite wrong of course.  Even if he is right (wing) about the fascists rise to power, the first thing they would do would be to lay on ferries to send asylum seekers to a 3rd country aka Britain!

Business and Industry

I am something of an expert in this area, with a career introducing life-saving pharmaceuticals to the world, teaching business to captains of industry, 25 years of business consultancy and writing 14 books on innovation and leadership.  I will use that expertise to help Government draw up better plans for sustainable innovation at the heart of Britain’s business and industrial strategy in what is called “The 4th industrial age”.  A key plank of our strategy must be a return to investment in skills and the generation of more sustainable communities.  We must rebalance our over-reliance on services and do what Britain does best: to become a world-class centre for science, technology, engineering and intelligent design.  We cannot thrive in the new age by resting on our laurels with a nation of coffee shops, nail bars and kebab huts.  To do this I see the need for a strategy to encourage entrepreneurs.  Far too many small businesses fail at the first hurdle, and if we can improve the success rate, we improve our standing in the world.

No development without infrastructure

We constantly see new housing developments without schools, doctors, waste management and so on.  Motney Hill sewage works is quite literally overflowing with sh*t, and the sewage problem is only getting worse.   Nigel Farage said the country was at breaking point when he actually meant “breaking wind point”.  I will seek to ensure that property developers take a responsible approach to housing development locally.  Councils all too often accept promises of infrastructure development and then the promises don’t turn into reality.

In terms of affordable housing, our situation in Medway is in great need of renovation.  Speaking with residents, the combined effect of deprivation and the lack of genuinely affordable homes means that some people have to make themselves homeless in order to qualify for help.  This is a shameful indictment of the current approaches to housing and associated policies and we must be able to do better than this in a wealthy society.  Phil Collins summed it up well in his song “Another day in Paradise”.

Transport

I joked that I would set an army of cats on Gillingham station roof to remove the pigeons.  Well, the station does need a jolly good clean-up!   More importantly, the actual train services do need improving on Southeastern.  I will start community groups with the clout to ensure that the pressure points are focused on and addressed. 

Our bus services tend to serve the routes that Arriva wish to serve rather than the journeys that people wish to make.  I sense that, since buses are a public service, they should be subjected to some public interference here.  Whilst it is clearly of no value to have empty buses running everywhere, we must achieve greater partnership between the public and private motives here.  Again, a collaborative approach between business and Local Government is better than free market or state-controlled bus services.

I also joked that the Medway Tunnel should be converted to a giant cat flap.  We certainly need to improve the free movement of people if they are to prosper in the local area!  I propose a development of the service tunnel to allow cycle and pedestrian movement through the tunnel.  This would improve traffic flow, connecting Medway to the Hoo Peninsula, thereby benefiting the economy and much improving the environment by encouraging cycle use.

Improving the NHS

The NHS is at breaking point and knee jerk solutions do not serve us.   For example, two GP surgeries merged in Rainham a few years’ back.  One previously had approximately 3000 patients.  The combined surgery has approximately 13 000 patients but only one doctor.  Our NHS must get better treatment.

I will resist the sale of the NHS to American commercial interests.  A hip operation costs $32 000 in the USA.  Do we want that kind of system in the UK?  Instead, I propose a tiered system of taxation, one penny for the many and three pence for the few to fund our NHS.  At the same time the NHS itself needs improvement in its overall management, and I will seek a full health check to cut out waste.

We must increase “joined up thinking” between NHS and Social Care to improve everyday care for those in need and stop them ending up in hospital.  I propose a 30% rise in the minimum pay for carers so that being a carer is viewed as more of a career option.  This would attract a higher number of applicants who feel valued and well-trained.  It would mean that the best can be selected, rather than a job that people feel they must do if they don’t have any other options.  Councils will need to be less greedy on care homes to ensure their operations are resilient and that this is affordable.  For this we will need to find the money.  Rejoining the EU will likely reverse the losses of £100 billion per year and other sources of capital can be found such as stopping Non-Doms from profiting from Britain’s generosity.

Environment

We must act now to save our planet.  Not just because it’s nice to do but because Britain and Medway need to be at the heart of the Green Industrial Revolution rather than leaving that to China et al.  As well as accelerating our progress and ambition on Net Zero, which I endorse, this comes down to what I call “all the small things” as well.  If everyone were to do such things we would be a whole lot better.  Here are some examples of small things that add up to make a big difference:

• All retailers to stop selling plastic bags.
• Building flat pack social housing with environmental features.
• Extend my “five a day” Facebook programme to pick up plastic waste and safely recycle it.
• Offer every household a tree planting option for the garden if they are able to do so, or for children and families to plant their tree in a community space as a powerful symbol of our collective commitment on climate change.

We must not wait.  I’m sad to say that Labour are behind the curve on this vital issue along with their position on Gaza and Brexit.  Planet earth is impatient for our action and I fully endorse efforts being made by The Green Party, Greta Thunberg, The Climate Party and David Attenborough in this respect.

No sh..t Sherlock

Our policy on sewage is simple.  Prosecute water companies who dump sewage in our rivers and sea.  No sh..t Sherlock.

Education

Kids who are hungry can’t learn effectively.  We must ensure that all children have breakfast before school.  We can find the money for weapons.  Why can’t we find it for education?  We should reinstate Sure Start and a host of other measures adopted by previous Governments.  Write off existing student loans and set a cap on university fees of £6000 per annum with payments only starting if a student earns an income of 25% above the average wage.

All politicians interfere too much in schools.  I once worked with Sir Ken Robinson, author of “All our Futures” and the world’s most popular TED talk.  We must prepare our children for the 4th industrial age, where the challenge for education is not so much about the uptake of knowledge but the conversion of knowledge into valuable innovations.  Exams are simply a memory test, when all the information we need is now on the internet. 

What we need is people who can apply knowledge to solve problems in society and realise opportunities for Britain and Medway.  I set some of my ideas out for education out in my book “Leading Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise”, featuring an interview with Sir Richard Branson.

Homelessness and social deprivation

I have seen the Medway towns go from a once proud community to a dumping ground for those without hope.  We need some serious action on the causes of homelessness and on employment prospects for those people left behind by the Conservatives. Every time I visit Gillingham High Street it troubles me that we have so many people left behind by modern living.  Jeremy Hunt and Rehman Chishti seem to think that the presence of foodbanks in one of the wealthiest economies in the world is a badge of honour.  It is not. Furthermore, Suella Braverman, Penny Morduant and her sword carrying chums would seek to make a profit from people’s misery.  Deprivation is not defined by the absence of a Sky Satellite dish as Rishi said.  He managed to solve the problem of homelessness during COVID.  Where there is a will there is a way.

Social Cohesion, Law and Order

We must move from cure to prevention essentially.  Far too many of our social problems arise from dealing with effects rather than causes.  It’s all too easy to arrest people for crimes, rather than to put in services that prevent crime.

We must do better on removing the causes of law and order problems and this goes right back to what I call our “Polo” communities – communities with a hole in them.  The hole is the social infrastructure.  Even community pubs are rapidly closing and that leaves us living atomised lives. We must make spaces and places such as the Sunlight Centre and Medway College hubs for communities, particularly as research demonstrates that a major concern of older people is loneliness.  I suggest the appointment of Community leaders, selected on merit rather than simply using volunteers.

Independently of this campaign I am working with a PhD musician to begin a project to connect the over 55s to others with the purposes of community-based music teaching, playing and performance to rebuild networks, combat loneliness and social isolation.

Immigration

The points-based system favoured by the Tories will not help us manage jobs in health, social care and farming.  The Rwanda scheme is an abomination.  Instead, we need to bring back free tertiary education (except for private-school-educated students not on a scholarship) and develop an immigration system based on balanced scorecard factors according to our country’s actual needs and not one based solely on earnings.  There are better answers to our immigration issues and the current Government does not wish to fix the system as it feeds racism.  Here’s how:

To understand the flowchart better, please see my two-minute film on immigration.  Keir Starmer would do well to adopt my strategy on the matter.  My proposals are:

• Put the traffickers out of business by providing safe routes for asylum seekers.
• Establish a two-day assessment process for all new arrivals, to assess skills, allocate them to an area of UK and put them to work.  Estimated costs of hotels SAVED = £2.92 BILLION per year.  Estimated benefit of putting people to work in sectors where there are skill shortages will be MASSIVE, both through impacts on sectors such as NHS, social care, farming and so on and tax revenues.
• Establish an instant imprisonment or deportation process for illegal migrants with serious criminal records.

Gaza

Whilst we are on the subject of racism, I demand a ceasefire in Gaza.  The people of Israel do not deserve Benjamin Netanyahu and the people of Gaza do not deserve Hamas.  99.999% of people just want to live in peace.  Quite surprisingly, I think Lord Cameron has done a good job to mediate but his efforts are hampered by the far-right elements in his party.  Sadly, one cannot put a cigarette paper between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunakered in this area.  Gaza is a complex multi-layered issue and the kinds of processes that were used to reach the Good Friday agreement are needed once a lasting ceasefire has been achieved.

Democracy

I propose that all UK citizens, whether British-born or not, be allowed to participate in our democracy.  No taxation without representation.  I know a café owner in Gillingham who has lived and worked here all his life (over 50 years), contributing to the life of the towns and the UK economy.  Since he is of Portuguese origin and nationality, he has no vote in General Elections.  This is not right.  There are many such examples like this in our towns.

I also believe we need to radically increase meaningful participation in democracy.  We now have the opportunity to be consulted about many things and we could envisage “red button” democracy via our TV screens or mobile phones.  For that to happen, it is vital that everyone is informed about decisions we wish to take.  Our present system of fake news and lies makes it virtually impossible for anyone to be able to separate fact, fiction and froth.  This has devalued trust in politics and politicians and must be addressed. 

I would like to propose EBP or Evidence Based Politics, where we make collective decisions based on facts and not just whims.  This would improve the standing of our politics.  This would result in Citizens’ Assemblies locally and a fact-based non-partisan news channel to educate people about world affairs without recourse to politicians as presenters.

I will push for proportional representation via a simple transferable voting system to ensure that everyone’s vote matters. And a major reform of the House of Lords is long overdue to reduce the size of the house whilst improving the competence of members. No 2nd / 3rd / 5th jobs for politicians and an end to dodgy contracts.  MPs to attend parliament like any normal job and hold regular surgeries with their constituents.  Failure to do will result in suspension of pay and ultimately their removal via a recall petition.

Morality and corruption

Prosecute MPs and water companies and companies in general who break the law.  Justice for Post Office workers, contaminated blood victims, WASPI women and so on.  There is a long list of injustices that need to be rectified to restore trust in our politics.

Drugs and Alcohol

I proposed the legalisation of cannabis (and catnip for cats of course - joke!).  However, the most dangerous drug in regular use in my area is alcohol and, of course, hard drugs  We know that prohibition does not work, and regulation has limited effectiveness.  I propose a far greater focus on education, to help people make informed choices.  Supermarkets also play their part in this, and there is scope to regulate the price of alcohol without accelerating the nanny state.  Betting shops are another addiction that takes people’s hard-earned income away, often those people who have most to lose in the cycle of deprivation.  I believe we should also address this issue with education rather than compulsion.  I find myself in some agreement with former Conservative MP Tracey Crouch of Chatham and Aylesford on this.

Local issues

Other issues that have been brought to my attention during my campaign include fly tipping and rubbish – all part of a better approach to the environment, blocked road gullies, parking, places for youth to go, unaffordable housing and many more.  I plan to hold regular drop-in sessions in community hubs and schools to bring the community together.  This will include a Medway Citizens’ Assembly as part of much needed reforms to our democratic process. Here are my answers from the Hustings:

Brexit : Costing the earth

Brexit hit us with a 4.5% hit on GDP, reducing our resilience as a nation into perpetuity.  Trying to grow the country whilst carrying on with Brexit is like trying to swim the English Channel with a 4.5 kg block of concrete around your neck.  Stopping Brexit will release a lot of wasted resource.  Brexit is costing the UK economy £100 billion per year for no gain whatsoever.  Even arch Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg predicts that we won’t see any benefits from Brexit for 50 years, which is not within most of our lifetimes.  Pulling back from Brexit will generate considerable uplift in our economy, which can be put to better use in order to put the great back into Great Britain. 

I’m shocked to see myself write that Brexit is not the biggest issue in Little Britain.  It is merely a national disaster rather than the international climate catastrophe.  That said, Brexit contributes to our continued decline into environmental disaster through:

1.     An increased level of disaster capitalism post Brexit introduces more sharp practice.

2.     More global trade under No Deal / WTO or any form of Brexit increases carbon footprint.

3.     The bonfire on food and farming standards introduces more opportunity for poor environmental practice.  Food poisoning is ten times more in the US as compared with the UK.

What’s gone wrong with the Conservatives?

The Conservatives are no longer a responsible party:

• Economically : Boris said “fc..k business”, on which we all depend.  If you are bored by Brexit, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet”.  There are plenty more bumps in the road to come, some of which are about to happen later in 2024 with border checks.
• Socially : Brexit means the sale of NHS as we sleepwalk into a private healthcare system.  It will reduce workers’ rights and increase the gap between rich and poor.
• Legally and Politically : The once law-abiding Tories now act beyond the law.  Rwanda, £37 billion spent on PPE some of which was dodgy or non-existent, 30 000 unnecessary COVID deaths etc.
• Environmentally : Greater levels of world trade under Brexit increases our carbon footprint.  US food standards allow short cuts on animal welfare, meaning higher prices for poorer food.  One in six people in the US get food poisoning each year compared with one in 66 people in the UK.
• Ethically : The Tories have made dishonesty a norm in politics.  Michelle Mone, Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock.  Need I go on?

Watch our films on the need for reform of our populist politics and an evaluation of the damage brought by Brexit chaos by reading our article Populism Will Eat Itself: 

What’s the cat got to do with it?

Brexit is a “Dead Cat”, so I decided to stand a dead cat to point out that the Tories’ “Dead Cat Politics” are dead!  Even Rehman Chishti has dabbled with cats when he called for compulsory micro chipping to reunite them with their overlords.  Some of my stated policies for our feline friends are indeed faintly ridiculous, but I’m no monster raving loony.  I believe politics should be a little more humane, decent and fun, so I suggest these policies:

• The conversion of the Medway Tunnel into a giant cat flap.  Well, at least we should build a cycle and pedestrian tunnel to open up the area economically and environmentally.  This would transform traffic flow, business and social life between Medway and the Hoo Peninsula.
• Setting an army of cats on Gillingham station roof to remove the pigeons.  Well, the station does need a jolly good clean-up, as do the actual train services on Southeastern.
• Converting the Great Lines to a litter tray.  A ridiculous idea!  Yet, we keep seeing new housing developments in the area without provision of schools, doctors, waste treatment and fresh water.  The sewage treatment facilities at Motney Hill are at breaking point.  We must attend to such things if we don’t want Medway to become a giant litter tray.
• No Cat left behind.  In human terms, this means some serious action on the causes of homelessness and employment prospects for those people left behind by the Conservatives. Every time I visit Gillingham high street it troubles me that we have so many people left behind by modern living.
• Of course, we must apply to join the EU, by an act of Parliament as a major way forward.  We will then have the money and other resource to set about dealing with the things that caused the referendum result.

Find out more about Stan the Cat at Kent Online and The Daily Mirror.

“Medway has just about recovered from the dockyard closure. And look how many years that took. Brexit will be worse. Do we really want a double whammy on local industry, business and people’s livelihoods?”